What the Chicago Bears must do with Tyrique Stevenson following shocking Week 8 loss

The game between the Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders was flexed to late afternoon amidst the hype of a battle between the rookie quarterbacks taken in the first two picks. Two historical NFL organizations that have fallen on hard times are finally legitimate with a winning record, and a new rivalry was about to be born.

The Bears lost to the Commanders 18-15 on a Hail Mary pass thrown by Jayden Daniels, a loss that will be felt for a long time. The Bears played poorly right out of the gate, with Caleb Williams missing throws and the defense unable to contain Jayden Daniels, who was a game-time decision due to a rib injury suffered a week ago. The defense held them to three field goals in the first half, but the Bears offense was held to zero points.

The second half remained the same until running back D'Andre Swift scored on a 56-yard touchdown score late in the third quarter. Following that drive, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson started embarrassing himself in a most egregious manner.

He was penalized after poking Commanders offensive lineman's facemask right in front of an official as he and Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was jawing all night. He was beaten for 61-yard pass by McLaurin in the first half that setup one of their field goals.

But for Stevenson, it got even worse. After offensive coordinator Shane Waldron's awful decision to hand the ball to backup offensive lineman Doug Kramer at the Washington 1-yard line, he fumbled and was recovered by Washington. The Bear's defense held them deep in their territory, and Williams led the Bears to a scoring drive, which ended with Roschon Johnson's touchdown with 25 seconds left in the game.

Despite bad coaching and the offensive line playing horribly, Caleb WIlliams was going to win his homecoming game. The rivalry between him and Daniels had just begun, and he drew the first blood.
Then, with only 2 seconds away from an improbable win, the Bears gave up an improbable Hail Mary pass that deflected off Stevenson's hand and caught by Noah Brown.

Shortly after the game, a social media post emerged showing Stevenson taunting the Washington fans just as the Hail Mary was taking place.

To be fair, Stevenson was not the sole reason the Bears lost. Many things led to this moment, like the Bears' decision to throw the ball on first and goal, which stopped the clock before they scored the touchdown on second down. and the Bears' defense failing to protect the sidelines, which the Commanders converted and stepped out of bounds with 2 seconds left on the clock right before the hail mary pass.

But many experts will focus solely on Stevenson. You can imagine people like Stephen A. Smith and Pat McAfee will relish the opportunity to destroy him and the Bears all this week. This video proves it and the whole world has now seen his lack of awareness and immaturity.

The Bears fans have seen embarrasing ways this team has lost games too many times. But Stevenson's action makes this loss even more hard to swallow. You can imagine how the Bears players are feeling after seeing this video postgame.

To his credit, Stevenson took to Twitter to offer his apologies for his actions.

If accountability exists inside Halas Hall, they better take appropriate action against Stevenson immediately.

The defensive veterans like Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Byard must speak to him while also making sure any anger towards him does not destroy the locker room. While it is contingent upon the return of Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, Matt Eberflus must consider benching him against Arizona or even demote him to a backup role for foreseeable future.

No matter what happens, Stevenson faces a long road towards regaining the trust of his teammates and coaching staff again.